IAF Chief Shares Vision For Making 'Contemporary And Future-Ready Aerospace Force'

The IAF Chief addressed student officers from the Indian armed forces about the force's challenges, capability development plan, and jointmanship.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Friday told a group of officers about the IAF's vision to transition into a "contemporary and future-ready aerospace force". His remarks came as he visited the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Tamil Nadu’s Wellington, the defence ministry said in a statement on March 22.

The IAF chief also emphasised the important air power lessons learned from existing conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to the statement.

In his address to them, he discussed the IAF's challenges, capability development plan, and jointmanship, according to the statement.

He addressed student officers from the Indian armed forces and friendly foreign countries taking part in the 79th Staff Course, as well as DSSC's permanent staff.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhari "spelt out the IAF's transition into a modern and future-ready aerospace force". 

He reiterated the vision outlined in the IAF doctrine, which calls for an agile and adaptable air force capable of providing decisive aerospace power.

"The dominant role played by IAF during the evacuation of Indian diaspora from conflict zones and during disaster relief operations was highlighted" by him, according to the statement.

The IAF chief was also briefed on current training activities and the importance of collaboration at DSSC.

IAF Congratulated ISRO For 'PUSHPAK': 

Meanwhile, in a post on X, the IAF congratulated ISRO on reaching a milestone in reusable launch vehicle technology with the RLV LEX-02 landing experiment.

"Utilising the #IAF Chinook helicopter for its airlift and subsequent positioning at a predefined altitude and location, @isro successfully demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) 'PUSHPAK' as part of its RLV-LEX 2 mission.” "Airlifted to an altitude of 4.5 kms, IAF Air Warriors were part of the successful mission. IAF heartily congratulates #ISRO on achieving this milestone. IAF will contribute and collaborate in future as well, for many such undertakings. #AtmanirbharBharat #HarKaamDeshKeNaam," it posted and also shared some photographs and a video.

ISRO announced on Friday that the RLV LEX-02 landing experiment marked a significant milestone in reusable launch vehicle technology.

This is the second in the series, taking place at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka, at 7.10 a.m.

Following the successful completion of the RLV-LEX-01 mission last year, the Bengaluru-based space agency announced that RLV-LEX-02 demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) from off-nominal initial conditions at helicopter release.